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SUPPZ.COM ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Skye Digman
UW–La Crosse junior and Platteville High School grad wins women’s shot put title at NCAA DIII Indoor National Championships
Skye Digman
UW–La Crosse junior Skye Digman won an individual national title in the women’s shot put at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field National Championships with a new school record throw of 50'2.75". Digman also placed 11th in the women’s hammer throw on Friday.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday throughout the calendar year.

by Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal/Fennimore Times

Skye Digman, Jr., Throws, UW–La Crosse indoor track and field
WINSTON–SALEM, N.C. — The UW–La Crosse women’s track and field team finished second at the 2022 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Indoor Championships Saturday night at JDL Fast Track.  

The Eagles finished with 44.0 team points. Loras College (Iowa) captured the national title with 59.0 points while Ithaca College (N.Y.) was third with 40.0.

It is UWL’s sixth (1993, 1999, 2001, 2009, 2014, 2022) runner-up finish at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships and first since 2014.  The Eagles captured their first NCAA Division III Indoor title in 2015 in Winston-Salem. Action Shot

UWL has crowned 12 individual or relay champions and 229 NCAA III Indoor All-America honors in school history. 

The Eagles’ Skye Digman won the NCAA III title in the shot put on Saturday with a school record throw of 50–23/4. The junior broke the record o 49–7 set by Cindy Lensmire in 1984. Digman is the second thrower in school history to capture the national title in the shot put, joining Jessie Coonen who won the title in 1993. 

Digman earned her second career NCAA III Indoor All-America award in the event after finishing fifth in 2019. The 2020 and 2021 indoor national championships were both cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She is also a two-time indoor WIAC champion in both the shot put and weight throw in 2020 and earlier this spring.

Diman was also a national qualifier in the women’s weight throw, finishing 11th (54–91/4) in the event on Friday.

Digman is a 2018 graduate of Platteville High School and the daughter of Aaron and Laura Digman of Platteville.

Digman’s title was UWL’s second individual national crown in this year’s championships after Hannah Zenkovich took the pentathlon on Friday with a school record 3,774 points. 

It marks the first time in school history UWL won two individual NCAA Division III titles at the same championships. It is the third time in school history the Eagles have won two event championships in the same year. In 1993, Coonen won the shot put while Luanne Bruss, Jenny Ford, Amy Johnson and Kari Nethery captured the 4x400-meter relay. At the 2015 NCAA III Championships, Bria Halama took the triple jump crown with Claire Gordee, Kaitlyn Francour, Halama and Shannon Klein winning the 4x400-meter relay.

Digman and UWL open the 2022 outdoor season Saturday, April 2 at the Wartburg College (Iowa) Select at 10:30 a.m.


HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Brianna Leahy, Jr., Throws, UW–Platteville indoor track and field

Senior Brianna Leahy, a Shullsburg graduate, finished in second place in the women’s shot put at last weekend's NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field National Championshps. Leahy threw a new personal best, school record mark of 14.91 meters (48–11) to come in second place to UW–La Crosse’s Skye Digman. Two other women from the WIAC finished among the top eight in the event, Catie Fobbe of UW–Eau Claire and Mackenzie Huber of UW–Stout. Leahy earned her first career All-American honors and scored eight points for the UW–Platteville women’s team score.

Quentin Shields, Sr., G, UW–Platteville men's basketball
UW–Platteville senior Quentin Shields was recently selected to participate in the 2022 National Association of Basketball Coaches Reese’s Division III College All-Star game. Shields is the lone WIAC student–athlete selected to the all-star game. The contest will be held at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind., on Saturday, March 19 at 2 p.m. Shields will be on Team Edwards, coached by former Washington University head coach Mark Edwards. Shields started all 28 games for the Pioneers and led the team with 15.4 points per contest. The senior from Chicago, Ill., shot 42.1 percent from the floor and 83.3 percent from the free throw line. Shields averaged 3.6 assists and finished the year with a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. hields, a pre-season fourth team All-American by d3hoops.com, is a four-time All-WIAC selection. He was honorable mention as a true freshman and first team the last three seasons. Shields led the Pioneers to 96 wins in five seasons, four NCAA Division III Tournaments, three regular season WIAC championships and two WIAC Tournament championships. He finished second on the Pioneer all-time list in career-points with 1,671.